History of Pulaski news continued

This is a continuation of the story started last Sunday about Pulaski newspapers.
The Smith Brothers in Pulaski published the News Review until the year 1902, when they sold out to C. A. Moyers.
In writing about the Smith Brothers years in the newspaper business in later years, Lewis Smith boasted that the outstanding work of the News Review in connection with the controversial moving of the County Courthouse from Newbern to the Town of Pulaski. He said this was their top story for a long time. They were in favor of moving the courthouse to Pulaski, and they published several hundred columns of matter in connection with the contest. C. A. Moyers soon sold the paper to a group consisting of George R. Chevis , D. L. Bartle, and E. P. Ham, with Chevis as manager. The name of this group was The Southwest Publishing Company, and the name of the paper was changed from The News Review to The Southwest Times, the name that has been used ever since.
Editor Chevis grabbed his Southwest Times and jumped right into the middle of town politics. It seemed that he had a natural dislike of Mayor John T. Loving, and never missed an opportunity to convey this message to readers of his newspaper. As he walked about the town, he would observe town public works employees performing their duties, and if they were not performing to suit him, he would write an editorial about it, putting the blame on the mayor.
During the 1908 mayoral election the editor and Mayor Loving blasted each other through the newspaper. When Chevis would publish an anti-Loving editorial, Loving would fire back through the open forum.Chevis was able to turn enough voters against Loving to seriously effect the election’s outcome. A group of disgruntled citizens organized a party that they called the Reform Party, and came out with enough candidates to assure complete control if elected With a lot of help from the Southwest Times the reformers won the election for mayor by eight votes. The new mayor was David Pollock, in an election in which eighty per cent of the voters cast ballots.
The day after the election, Chevis promised the voters that he would keep a close eye on the reformers, and if they didn’t do a good job, he would be after their hides. As it turned out, the reform party accomplished very little except carry out plans that Loving had started. This included the construction of Hogan’s Dam, that gave Pulaski a water supply for the first time in its history.
In 1910 John T. Loving was swept back in office as mayor, an office he held until 1915, giving him a total of nineteen trying years as Pulaski’s mayor, and his accomplishments were manifold, while those of George R. Chevis were minimal.

Lloyd Mathews is a retired land surveyor and a historian who lives in Pulaski.

Comments

comments

History of Pulaski news continued

This is a continuation of the story started last Sunday about Pulaski newspapers.
The Smith Brothers in Pulaski published the News Review until the year 1902, when they sold out to C. A. Moyers.
In writing about the Smith Brothers years in the newspaper business in later years, Lewis Smith boasted that the outstanding work of the News Review in connection with the controversial moving of the County Courthouse from Newbern to the Town of Pulaski. He said this was their top story for a long time. They were in favor of moving the courthouse to Pulaski, and they published several hundred columns of matter in connection with the contest. C. A. Moyers soon sold the paper to a group consisting of George R. Chevis , D. L. Bartle, and E. P. Ham, with Chevis as manager. The name of this group was The Southwest Publishing Company, and the name of the paper was changed from The News Review to The Southwest Times, the name that has been used ever since.
Editor Chevis grabbed his Southwest Times and jumped right into the middle of town politics. It seemed that he had a natural dislike of Mayor John T. Loving, and never missed an opportunity to convey this message to readers of his newspaper. As he walked about the town, he would observe town public works employees performing their duties, and if they were not performing to suit him, he would write an editorial about it, putting the blame on the mayor.
During the 1908 mayoral election the editor and Mayor Loving blasted each other through the newspaper. When Chevis would publish an anti-Loving editorial, Loving would fire back through the open forum.Chevis was able to turn enough voters against Loving to seriously effect the election’s outcome. A group of disgruntled citizens organized a party that they called the Reform Party, and came out with enough candidates to assure complete control if elected With a lot of help from the Southwest Times the reformers won the election for mayor by eight votes. The new mayor was David Pollock, in an election in which eighty per cent of the voters cast ballots.
The day after the election, Chevis promised the voters that he would keep a close eye on the reformers, and if they didn’t do a good job, he would be after their hides. As it turned out, the reform party accomplished very little except carry out plans that Loving had started. This included the construction of Hogan’s Dam, that gave Pulaski a water supply for the first time in its history.
In 1910 John T. Loving was swept back in office as mayor, an office he held until 1915, giving him a total of nineteen trying years as Pulaski’s mayor, and his accomplishments were manifold, while those of George R. Chevis were minimal.

Lloyd Mathews is a retired land surveyor and a historian who lives in Pulaski.